Sponsored searches also known as paid search advertising is a type of a type of related advertising where website owners are bound to pay fees based on clicking through ads in order to show results at a higher rank on result pages of widely used searching. Other search engines enable users to identify which search results have natural or paid results, while some engines jumble the searches making it a little difficult for users to differentiate search results from the free and paid ones.

In order to increase the capacity of a business which primarily offer services rather than products, the online media has been the best way to attract potential investors and other costumers that would likely benefit from the industries compelled to provide prospects for better job offers. Advertising through paid search becomes the answer to target local-based service and utilize it for better promotion and establish analytical search for increased ranking on searches in the future.

Search engine optimization of advertisements can pose several difficulties since tracking changes can also be multifaceted rather than business sites where operations take place within the website itself. The most effective action that a user can do is to place a phone call and talk to the owner or involved people within the bounds of the company to create rapport and enable ease in the business process.

Known sites such as Google engage in a web-analytics solution known as Google Analytics to determine imminent events about website traffic and marketing strategies as they take effect. However, with the first move of “phone first” makes the analysis and conversion with tracking quite difficult since it lacks determination of the real income the site has already produced. And if the expenses and other transactions are not tracked in time, it becomes difficult to the department who handle the operation.

In order to gain a more effective and useful campaign without the hassle of data conversion, take a peek at its three levels which will aid in the advertising performance of the sites created mainly for e-commerce.

Level #1 : Data Conversion

A free tool devised as conversion tracking can determine the list of efficient workers among the advertisements and keywords provided. It shows what really occurs after a customer has clicked on the ads whether a product has been purchased, an inquiry has been made or a form has been filled up to keep track on information. By using this, the customers are able to access the websites that is related to the business and thru clicking, it becomes an income to boost return on investment.

Level #2: Tracking thru calls

A method in phone call collection is done thru phone tracking. It is a technology established in order to get information from provided data of the server from various sites thereby connecting it to a main line. The calls are listed through data provided ranging from recorded calls, calls made, identification of callers, length of calls and call sources. Google Ad extensions provide useful hints if relevant phone numbers is to be included among the searches.

Level # 3: Data from Self-Reports

There are instances where information should come from experiences of customers regarding a product or a service to enable improvement. Questionnaires, interviews, phone calls and surveys are used to gain responses in studies and quality control measurements. In advertising, it becomes a useful tool to enhance communication and prevent negative or fraudulent outputs in the future.

However at some point, data which is not useful are being collected which becomes irrelevant to the dealer that it can be traced easily through key performance indicators. Follow up among the findings should also be considered by the administration.

Return on investment should also be taken into account as the income is achieved through various sales. And to improve expenditure on advertising, notes can be placed on the site to achieve a track on business ranking even for searches that are irrelevant. Not only will this action provide useful tags, it will also aid in the promotion of the business.

All in one

Once all the steps mentioned are taken into account, make sure to include the following information related to contacts, phone numbers and sales. Make a list of transactions in Excel to keep track on the daily calls made as it is converted into ad campaigns in the future.

The key to a successful business online is the ability to gain trust among the netizens who come by the sites to engage in trustworthy kind of business. The need for website optimization is at pace, now is the time to make it work.

Redefined Social Media Analytics and Business Thinking

Traditionally speaking, most users of social media ought to be recognized and belong to a group that is why they created accounts. By simply gaining Facebook fans liking their page, or being continuously followed and earning “retweets”, this satisfaction is already attained. This has been the obsolete way of social media analytics.

However, in 2012, tools for tracking down activities across networks are already up for challenge to marketers. Possibilities include creating social media metrics like “amplification” and “applause”. Digging in deeper, companies should take a “look at their goals” and establish ways to accomplish such with the use of social media. Taking it simply, it is a lot better to say, “let’s make this happen to SURELY earn” rather than just saying, “let’s try this ‘coz it we MIGHT earn”.

Easier Staffing and Faster Traffic among Online and Offline Experiences

Sure, a company wanting to establish marketing on social media requires staff who have expertise on the field. However, as we take into account, fresh graduates, college students and high schoolers are affected by this trend allowing them to constantly explore and accidentally or maybe eventually understand how social media works. This makes it a lot easier to find staff to get to work. Nevertheless, it is still advisable to find one with actual marketing experience, great communication skills, technical expertise on information technology and one who can lead and provide directions to keep the team on track with the company’s goals.

Posting and twitting have been a fad. The fact is, it has already become a lifestyle that if in daily living, a user finds something interesting; he would eventually share it online. Imagine this, while offline, he might bump into something that might have caught his interest, and suddenly, he has taken advantage of his online habits, making him post it to his wall on Facebook, and shortly thereafter, his “friends” online will now start to share the interesting post. Now imagine the post was a product owned by a company. From a simple experience of literally “bumping” to that product, with social media marketing, it could be delivered to thousands online thru networks. This is the advantage given by the Online and Offline experiences converging.

Bottom Line

Social media has already hit it BIG in 2012, and it is still growing. By taking advantage of this fact, infusing Social Media with Marketing, it may open a lot doors to success. Nevertheless, careful thought still needs to be considered and the aforementioned tips are of big help to gain your company’s goal. While social media is at its peak this year, it is never too late to open up an option to social media marketing.

Sometime in the 90’s, internet marketing bud off its shell. And during the 21st century, social media like Facebook and Twitter started to make a fever through social media. Though it has long been a trend, businesses established online might make an astonishing break this 2012, thanks to the flourishing of social media marketing. For small time companies, who are thinking if they are “too late to enter the game”, the good news is, it is much easier and more convenient to begin social media marketing as a business strategy this year than the previous years.
Here is why:

The Irony of Social Media reaching Saturation while Rise in User numbers is still Unknown

Facebook kicked in globally in 2006, while Twitter hit the world the following year. Every single day, billions of people around the world log in and spare time either twitting their days-worth activity or simply posting a picture of their home-baked cookie. The point is in 2012, social media hit a saturation point, as 86% of people in the US, or roughly ‘one in every thirteen people worldwide’ already has an existing social media account.

Blending in marketing with this data, imagine a pool of billions of potential customers for an online company. It gives a guarantee that the targeted niche for an online advertised product is reached, and giving it time to incorporate social media marketing as a business strategy is worth all the time and effort to do so.

Regardless of not knowing whether these numbers of people are on Facebook or on Twitter, online advertisers are sure that these customers are present and are just there following the advertised product or service. Furthermore, starting social media marketing this year proves to be much easier than the previous years as social media is at peak, and ironically, still rising as it grows its user numbers.

Social Sharing and Diversified Use

Here’s a naive thinking, “social media only serves Facebook, Twitter and YouTube…as it equals them”. The bad news is, this might be true, considering these are the main players for social media, and it is intimidating to think this way. But the good news is, small time businesses started in social media marketing can gain an edge once they take advantage of “social sharing”. That is, establishing leverage with these 3 big time social media companies by picking on the “pocket” conversations among the billions of members worldwide could be a cornerstone to a flourishing small time business. This is possible through simple following of twits, posts and even better, wall of companies to advertise the products and services. Since there is a continuous flow of sharing, a single wall or post advertisement could channel to millions of viewers who could be potential customers worldwide. The trick to this game is “to take advantage”, not “to be taken advantage”. With proper use of diversified sharing in social media, even the smallest business could pull off billions of sales.

Are you a fan of social networking media? It is not a surprise to know that almost all people in all parts of the world are avid fans of the social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and now the Google Plus which has only been available in the past months. Social networking sites definitely help in a lot of ways to its users.

However, there are also some drawbacks on being so much into these sites. Evident to this are the growing numbers of crime being linked or associated with the use of social networking sites. Hence, the people behind these social media are constantly emphasizing their continuous drive to tighten whatever safety and security measures they have towards their users.

One of the hottest topics that have ever been talked about in Facebook, Twitter and Google+ is whether to allow its users to use pseudonyms. In any online social networking site you patronize, determining whether the people behind a certain profile is true or not would definitely be just like finding a needle in a haystack. What more if these people are only using nicknames and not their true names?

In line with this, Google+ move to allow pseudonyms online has garnered a lot more issues as this move is contradicting to their original policy.

Here’s the catch…

People could stop worrying about security or safety issues tagged on the recent permission of Google+ to its users to use pseudonyms as Google would not be too easy on people who want to use pseudonyms. According to Horowitz from Google, they would allow users to use maiden names, nicknames and pseudonyms only if he or she could substantiate that the name that will be use has already been used to other social networking sites. This way Google can assure that there is a real person behind this pseudonym or nickname and this pseudonym is not being used for scam.

In line with this, Horowitz assured the public that Google employees will review the name changes made by its user manually. Moreover, for security purposes Google will ask for legal documents from its user like driver’s license or published material and link to social networking sites before approving.

Do pseudonyms help or not?

People differ when it comes to their preferences. It goes the same about names. Some people just don’t want to represent themselves using their own name and is fonder of using nicknames and pseudonyms. But the question is do pseudonyms help or not? The answer is its case to case basis. Like for instance, pseudonyms can definitely help those who are victims of abuse since they need to hide their identity while scammers can use fake names to fool people.

In spite of all the intrigues about this issue, there’s one thing that Google+ users can definitely be assured of. It is that Google has only good intentions for its decision to permit pseudonyms.

Google has recently launched a new tactics or project as they call it to get more people interested to them. This project is called ‘Google + your World’. Google Plus as mentioned by Google itself is not going to be a rival for other social networking sites like ‘Facebook’ but it will certainly make a difference to your usual search task using Google.

Google + lets you make your own profile and use it to your benefits as much as possible. In the short while that Google + exists, there have been many critics and to it. However, you are the only one who can rightfully decide if it will going to help you or just complicate things for you. Hence, below are some of the things you might need to know about this newest project from Google.

What You Can Do with Google +?

Like any other products launched by Google, there are a lot of things you can do with Google + that can definitely help you or your businesses prosper. Included in the list are the following:

1. You get to increase your conversion rates – Of course, this was the most important things for SEOs. When you say conversion rates it only means money for online marketers. But how can this Google + give you higher conversion rates? Here’s how it works. As you join your business or register your business to Google + you’ll be able to increase your conversions through search referrals. You can also add +1 button to your page so you’ll get free promotions from people to those who share the same interests.
2. Build a tighter relationship to your customers and prospective clients – Through a special feature of Google + called ‘Hangouts’ you will have the opportunity to talk to your customers and other people who have the same interests as you. Continues communicating to your client and other people is a good way to maintain a good social status to your business. Hence, having such a feature like ‘Hangouts’ definitely helps your business. Aside from the fact that it can help you with building a good relationship to your patrons and prospect clients you can also use this feature for internal matters such as holding an important meeting and reaching those employees assigned in the remote areas.

Google + Interface

Surprisingly, Google took a lot of effort to consider what more people want in a social networking site though they are claiming that Google + is not one. The interface looks magnificent as it is definitely easy to use and everyone can enjoy its feature as it’s very easy to understand as well as operate. There are a lot of similarities with Google + and Facebook. Both have wall posts and privacy features. But one thing that you will certainly love about the Google + interface is its feature called ‘Circles’ which allows you to add and organize people in your network. You can separate them by putting them in different circles. And the best news? Doing this is as easy as 1-2-3!

Trends affect business trade like to how climate affect countries. Those countries experiencing four seasons are affected by weather and climate changes every couple of months, as such, people adapt to these climate changes. Like the ever changing climate, trends affect the business trade in the same way except that change takes years. When trends change, the market follows and the companies adapt to changes as well. Apparently, like the ever changing climate, trend is quite unpredictable.

Video marketing has turned out to be one of the most convenient and effective methods in advertising products and services. Business promotion is made a lot easier by video marketing. The following are some expected trends that most likely will be seen in 2012.

Statistics Doesn’t Lie

Last November 2011, comScore, a world-renowned leader in measuring the digital realm, released the October 2011 United States Online Video Rankings. They revealed that 184 million United States Internet viewers watched videos online 21.1 hours per viewer at an average. The statistics revealed all-time high results of a total of 42.6 billion videos watched by the U.S. Internet audience. And from 2010’s report, this year there is a 5.1% increase in the average time spent on watching online videos per viewer.

This trend shows that this year, the United States population will spend almost 39.7% more online watching time. That is roughly 193 million people who will watch about 29.4 hours in 2012.

Moreover, it was reported that Google sites ranked as the number one online video content property in October 2011 with a remarkably 161 million unique viewers from YouTube.com. They also topped the highest engagement of 7.1 hours per viewer.

The previous year’s report of comScore revealed that Google sites through YouTube.com with a sum of 146.3 million different viewers, topped as Internet video content property in October 2010. Furthermore, Google sites with 4.5 hours at an average topped last year’s average time spent watching online videos.

So, it’s safe to conclude that Google sites will be the number 1 online video content property a year from now.

History Repeats Itself
The August 2009’s On the Predictability Of Search Trends by Niv Efron, Yair Shimshoni and Yossi Matias of Google revealed the following:

• Of the most popular Google searches more than half are predictable.
• While almost half of the most popular Google searches are not predictable

From these findings, Google launched a feature in the Insights for Search. For instance, the term “snow” spikes in February to December 2012. This means video marketers can start planning now to create and release content themed events like the holidays.

Creativity can be broadly defined as inventiveness, imagination and originality. To create is to bring into being something that wasn’t there before. It can be a fresh new arrangement of existing elements. Take composers for instance, they have created countless pieces of music from basically eight notes. This proves that the capacity for creativity and originality is infinite even when the elements that comprise it are finite.

In Facebook ad where you are limited to just 160 characters, being creative and original requires a fair amount of good skill. We have heard this before: A picture is worth a thousand words. This is true in photojournalism, paintings and advertising. And now that life has taken a faster pace, people do not have the luxury of time to read ads. That’s why in a Facebook ad, the image alone must tell the story. Here are some tips that should be taken into consideration to have the best Facebook Ad Image.

1. Invest in Good Visual Styling

Images say pretty much what it shows. A dog is always a dog. It is visual styling that adds emotion and spice to the image. And, these visual styles are only achieved through art direction, excellent photography and good production design.

2. Be The Iconoclast

Art is guided by classical rules, however in the realm of creativity, sometimes breaking new grounds is the best way to call attention. Facebook ad images puts premium on creating impact, therefore, more often than not, clichés just don’t work to bring perceptual interest and the drama that is more inherent to the image.

3. The 7 Categories of Fascination Triggers

Human beings are hardwired to pay attention the 7 Categories of Fascination Triggers such as: Lust, Prestige, Alarm, Power, Vice, Mystique and Trust.

It doesn’t take much IQ to figure out that an advertisement image associated with the 7 triggers can plausibly be something interesting to the target market. The following are examples of images that turned up using the formula “topic” + trigger.

4. Size Matters
If you finally came up with some possible images, decide on which images could be cropped, tilted or digitally enhanced to make it more visually prominent and appealing.

At this point, it is also best to consider which photographs work best with the small image format of Facebook. Facebook’s image size is less than 5MB, 80 pixels high by 110 pixels wide. Choose the images that will work well with this size. If your image won’t match up with that specs, its best to select another.

Social connections have circled into Facebook almost all of the time. Virtual presence is highly important for people as much as for businesses who want to plunge into a different plateau in business, which is making use of the web marketplace to maximize visibility to a wide range of consumers all over the world.
Facebook is said to be the second most-frequented site globally with more than 700 million users and counting. Anything you put into Facebook is considered viral in coverage. That is precisely the reason why many businesses are seeing the perks and major advantages of having a Facebook business page and being able to circle into the whole Facebook community.

If you are a newbie entrepreneur or maybe a bigwig in any major industry; here are quick and easy tips to tweak your Facebook business page and make it real SEO-friendly:

1. Page Name –

When creating your business page name, make sure to incorporate proper keywords in accord to your line of business. This will help optimize your page when someone searches for items within your category.

2. Load Up Your Business Information –

boost your page by indicating comprehensive business information; such as your Twitter, LinkedIn, or any website that you have.

3. Utilize Facebook Widgets and Buttons –

You are sure to get high quality backlinks and traffic conversions thru recommending your visitors to like, share, or follow you on your blogs.

4. Set your Privacy Settings to “Everyone” –

fluidity is important in being viral. Setting your privacy settings to “Everyone” will definitely leak and send your information and website to every single user who stumbles upon your page thru direct or indirect means.

5. Keep it Interactive and Updated –

It is highly important that you keep your users hooked to your page by providing them fresh and interesting news or information relevant to your products and services. Keep the updates on a regular and steady fashion as this will encourage visitors to frequent your page and keep posted on your updates.

6. Inject Creativity and Innovation –

Boring pages are supposed to be deleted these days. No one visits monotonous pages; for obvious reasons. So always inject fun and creative input into your Facebook page. You can incorporate different media or applications such as videos or even games. You can also give timely promotions or contests. Basically, anything that encourages participation from users will be very helpful in boosting much-needed exposure and traffic to your site.

7. Be Active and Contribute –

The more visible you are in Facebook, the more people will recognize you and follow your posts. Be sure to voice out your opinion on a variety of posts your connections may have.They may also be inclined to share as well as recommend your page to their contacts. This will depend on how targeted your market is with regard to the products and services that you are offering. You can actually search on your target market by optimizing the search buttons on Facebook. You can see their posts and status updates as well which may have some relation with your business.
Facebook has definitely transcended beyond being just a trend. It has now become a necessity for personal and business connections. What sets Facebook apart from its emerging competitors is that these pages are built on solid reputation and trust. This is not just a fancy web marketplace, but it has become a community of people who are in constant interaction with one another.